1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to surgical devices; and, more particularly, to a curved stylet and holder therefore for use in thoracic applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of surgical devices are known in the prior art. In my copending application Ser. No. 701,914, filed Feb. 14, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,188, I describe and claim a number of such devices, certain of which are useful in thoracic applications. In such operations, the surgeon makes a cut in the side of the body between the ribs. A conventional trachar is used to make this cut. In thoracic operations, it is critical that the surgeon get into the pleural cavity of the patient which lies under the ribs. In doing so, surgeons use their finger to guide the trachar so as to get it into the pleural cavity. However, if the blood of the patient is contaminated and the surgeon's finger is cut, the finger would get infected. This is of course of serious concern to the surgeon, particularly in view of the discovery in recent years of certain disease from contaminated blood where the patient may be a carrier and appear to be in good health.
There is thus a need for surgical devices wherein the slit made with a trachar in thoracic operations can be explored using instrumentation to locate the pleural cavity.